I'll be attending Wake this summer and I'm so so excited! I loved the relaxed and warm vibe of the community. I'd love to know your favorite parts of Wake and what you wish you knew before starting - any and all tips and advice/things to look forward to would be greatly appreciated!
Got messaged this today and thought a reply might be helpful to more than this one student. Also, I'd open this up to
@<3ClinicalResearch @GoofyGubernaculum and some of the other Wake students to reply with your answers (if you want).
I think you've hit the nail upon the head pretty solidly when you describe the community as warm and relaxed. Let's start with some tough love that I struggled with when choosing a medical school: frankly, Winston Salem doesn't have the outside appeal of living in a NYC, DC, LA, Chicago, or an Atlanta. I struggled with this for a while because I wanted to live in a prestigious and notable city (selfishly) and I had acceptances to some schools in these places. But something that Winston can boast about that isn't necessarily the case with many other places is how fundamental the medical community is to the surrounding community. Winston is big enough that you will always be meeting new people but also small enough that if there is something you want to do during your time in medical school, you will know someone who either does it or can connect you into that field. The perk of being one of five major trauma centers and academic hospitals in the state is that we see and do just about everything at Wake--particularly now with our partnership with Atrium Health in Charlotte, the few things that we didn't have at Wake are also now likely happening somewhere in the health system (more on that partnership later). Some examples of this community in action:
-One of my professors had me shadowing a doctor the day after she found out I had a potential interest in a certain specialty. This happened within my first month at school.
-I have the personal phone number for many physicians in the community and regularly receive text messages checking in from some of them
-This morning, at 5:30 AM, one of the students in the year above me texted of his own volition to ask if I was ready for my rotation and helped me figure out scrub access before I had to be in the hospital this morning
-The Dean of the Medical School (who also is the head of the whole Wake Forest Baptist Medical System and a distinguished surgeon) has office hours for medical students where she sits with you one-on-one to address any concerns you might have, answering any burning career or medical questions, or to just chat to get to know you. This is a monthly event that she has in her calendar open to all medical students.
-Lots more that I won't go into much detail about: big-little programs, M1-M3 mentorship, small clinical rotation groups your first two years of school, receptive faculty, Step coaches who have time to analyze your specific study habits
The last thing I will say on the subject of community is something I didn't know about Wake when I ended up choosing it for medical school. Because Wake is private, there are no physician contracts that force doctors into teaching during your first two years at medical school. What this means, practically, is that all of the doctors (which is a lot) during those first two years of the curriculum choose to teach and work with you because they enjoy educating medical students and because they care about your success--I realize it doesn't sound like a big deal but take the word of an internet stranger that it is huge when you look for mentorship and research and guidance from doctors as you start medical school. This isn't a fact that is true at all medical schools and the experiences between me and of some of my friends at other medical schools are notable because of it.
Something to consider: Wake did partner with Atrium health recently to open a Charlotte-based Wake Forest medical school branch--this will be opening a few years down the line but more importantly for you is that your "home" clinical rotation sites now have several more options including the busiest Emergency Department in the state (at CMC-Main) and some excellent subspecialties that are associated with Atrium Health in Charlotte. Expect some more details about this over the next few months but our class (2023) is about to start the first Wake Forest medical student rotations there ever as of this coming Monday! The teaching staff in Charlotte has been incredibly welcoming and impressive to us as a class.
Some things I wish I had known before starting medical school:
-Every one of your future classmates can be stunningly impressive. It is so easy to default into feeling like you were accepted by mistake or that you shouldn't be here. Imposter syndrome is very real for everyone--I promise everyone gets it, even if they never admit that they do. You do belong.
-You will feel stupid in medical school (wherever you go). You will also have days where you feel brilliant. Take it in strides, because the victories of medical school are amazing but the lows are far more consequential and will teach you a lot more about yourself.
-Medical school can be incredibly fun. I won't spoil the surprises but you have some cool things headed your way.
-The human body is truly amazing and the more you learn about humans, the more amazed you will become--definitely get excited for that!
-Wearing a white coat means patients are going to be oddly transparent with you about some very personal things. It took me off guard when it first happened but was also so unique to be deeply trusted by a patient simply because I had a badge and a white coat. It puts the onus on you to keep up that trust and to be wise with your words.
-Medical school is tough but probably not for the reasons you are expecting. Academically, it probably will be more difficult than you expect initially (I certainly had no idea how to even quantify it before starting medical school--still struggling to make a good analogy) but you will make the jump successfully, even if you don't think you are going to at first. What is just as difficult (if not more so) is the emotional toll of the rollercoaster that is medical school. Once it starts, it doesn't really stop and the stakes just increase every year. That being said, so do the rewards. This isn't to scare you (really, I promise, you've made it this far) but to give you a friendly reminder that medical school is just as much about the emotional and mental journey as it is the knowledge you gain.
-With that last point in mind, the importance of having a good community and support system is invaluable. Let me say that again because of everything I've said, this is your homework and the takeaway lesson. You will be getting a new community in medical school and Wake does a great job (see above essay on it) integrating you into a place where you can turn to just about anyone for help. But don't forget that there will be days you want to be anything but a medical student--so having a person or a group of people to turn to in these times is something I can't stress enough. You are a human first before being a medical student. Maintain that humanity. Find things you love to do outside of medicine. Share that passion and joy with other people. Medicine will take anything and everything you are willing to sacrifice to it, but ultimately family, friends, and other things in life are more important. Grounding yourself outside of medicine is the best thing you can do before starting medical school. This looks different for every person, but that is my suggestion for you over the next few months is to make that a very solid foundation because come summertime, you are hopping on the non-stop doctor train to May 2025.
It is an incredibly exciting time. I know that there is so much unknown attached onto the future as well which can be frightening. But Wake is a great place to call home for at least four years of medical school where people care about watching you grow.
Trying to gauge where we're at.
